WORK → WALKING ART

Series of 10 listening horns. L-R Bebo, Elmo, Cono, Wild One, Belder, Oak, DarkFront, The Beak, Malm, Medge, wood, beeswax, linseed oil and/or shellac (Garnet Lac). Special thanks to Jon Reginald Wilson for turning the interiors, other assistance, and for his mentoring during the process.

L-R, The Beak, Maple, beeswax. linseed oil, 4.25” diameter x 6.75” high, Dark Front, Box Elder, beeswax. linseed oil, 4” diameter x 7” high, and Elmo. Elm, beeswax. linseed oil, 5.5” diameter x 8.75” high
Photography: Stacey Evans

L-R Belder, Box Elder, beeswax. linseed oil, 4” diameter x 11” high and Oak, Oak, beeswax. linseed oil, 4.5” diameter x 8” high (with linen sac)
Photography: Stacey Evans

L-R, Cono, Maple and Garnet Lac shellac, beeswax. linseed oil, 6.75” diameter x 8” high, Bebo, Maple, beeswax. linseed oil, 3.25” diameter x 5.25” high, Malm, Maple, Elm, beeswax. linseed oil, 4.5” diameter x 8.5” high
Photography: Stacey Evans

L-R, Wild One (with preserved bark and listening channel through a branch), Maple, beeswax. llinseed oil, 6.5” diameter x 8” high, Mege, Maple, beeswax. linseed oil, 3.25” diameter x 5.25” high
Photography: Stacey Evans

Listening Horns

2013 - Present

"There is a geographical quality to listening…Of all the senses, hearing most resembles a contraption some ingenious plumber has put together from spare parts. Its job is partly spatial…Sounds have to be located in space, identified by type, intensity, and other features."
–Dianne Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

Listening Horns are a series of conical wooden horns carved from burls* of Elm, Box Elder, Maple, Oak and Walnut finished with beeswax, linseed oil and/or shellac (Garnet Lac). Sizes range from 3.25" – 6.5" diameter and 5.25" – 11" high. Each horn has a specially fitted linen carrying sac and is made to be taken on a walk as a portable listening and siting aid.

Special thanks to Jon Reginald Wilson, the "Lathe Guru" at Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, for turning the interiors, other assistance and for his mentoring during the process.

* Burl, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"A burl… is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over. Almost all burl wood is covered by bark, even if it is underground. Insect infestation and certain types of mold infestation are the most common causes of this condition… Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood, prized for beauty and rarity. They are sought after by furniture makers, artists, and wood sculptors."